I was wondering if somebody with a diesel van could post a pic of the duel battery setup, I need to run an auxiliary battery and I think using the diesel van setup would be very clean and easy. as long as it's not too terribly different and takes allot of different parts.

Thanks Neil

 

Damn, knew I should of took a pic of this!

What year is your van?

 

it is a 98, same as a 97-2005ish i think.

 

Ah ok, never seen under the hood of a Diesel van of that era. I can imagine how tight it must be! With all the plastic crap they have under there!

 

Ill take a picture as soon as i get my hood open.
It seems to be stuck.

 

i know the early 90's ambulances had a dual battery setup - i purchased the second battery bracket and hardware that they used for my '95 E350. the factory installed a narrow battery that did not have the capacity of your standard GP 24 and paralleled it with the factory battery - not ideal imho. i was able to fit a GP 24 battery in there but did replace the heater box screws with Stainless Steel as the battery lives right up against the heater case.

i then eliminated the stock battery and installed my other batteries on the right rear frame rail. also did a conversion to dual alternators, but that is another thread...

just my 2 cents

 

I bought a bad *** battery that I have on a power shut-off switch and 4GA wire running back to it. I have about 17ft of wire so the 4ga may help a little if the starting battery is running weak but it is only for charging. for the time being until i have time and money to run an isolator, I am running a cut off switch that i will turn off on arrival and turn on when i start the truck to charge it back up again.

 

All the E450 Chassis cabs that were used for Transit etc. that I have seen have the second battery on the frame rail. You can always make a bracket and put in a grp 31 truck battery as the second battery.

 

I bought a super start AGM31DT becuase it is agm i won't need to vent it and it is a deep cycle with 210 mins of reserve capacity.

Where is the bracket on the frame rail?

 

I had a 97 onetone club wagon with the V10 and dual batteries and the second battery was under the van on the pass frame rail right about where the step to enter the passenger area is. It was to rotted out to try and retreive the battry from it when I got the van so I just left it. Not sure why I was placed there. It would have been a nightmare to access for any purpose.

 

Neal,
Here's a pic of the battery setup on my '06 diesel E350. It's taken from the right rear wheel looking forward. The batteries are mounted on the frame rail and sit between the frame rail and the step well and are a PITA to get at. They are held on with three bolts each, which are easy enough to get to, but the problems come when trying to lower or raise the batteries from/to the mount points. A tranny jack might help, though.

The cases are heavy-gauge steel and each has a pair of safety cables that prevent them from hitting the ground when they are dismounted from the frame or if they were to fall off (hard to believe, but I bet it's happened).

The standard batteries are sealed lead-acid, which is a good thing because getting to the tops to check levels could only be done by lowering the batteries.

Good luck, Tom

Well shucks, I guess this forum isn't going to let me insert a photo . . . It is in my photo album, however, I hope I've set up my options appropriately. (grin)

 

my battery supplier has a brochure for a remote fill system for lead acid batteries that are difficult to access

Flow-Rite Single Point Battery Watering Sytems | Flow-Rite

check them out. very cool.

tom, i thought about mounting my batteries there but decided they would be too close to my tranny cooler and exhaust and cutting the steps up for access would be a nitemare. i have the same issues about lowering them to the ground - i use a floor jack. i also cut an access panel in the right rear floor - about where my jack and handle were located.

 

Neil 95 E350:
I've had a watering system on my list for my travel trailer for some time now. Probably will go to it when I replace my Gp 24s with T-105s.

Mounting an aux battery behind the rear wheel would certainly make it easier to get to, especially with an access hatch in the floor. It might be especially good if the aux battery were to be used for a trailer or internal accessories where the wire runs would be shorter. I believe the OEM battery carriers are available as separate parts and given the weight of the batteries and stress from bouncing down the road, I would want something at least that sturdy. If using the OEM carriers, I think I'd want to try to match up the bolt pattern of the carrier with holes in the frame, 'cause drilling into 3/16" steel without a straight shot would be daunting.

Since the OP is using an AGM battery, he wouldn't have to get to it very often, but if he did, lowering a single battery would probably be a lot easier because there wouldn't be any interconnecting cables between two batteries to work around.

In any case, Neil F100 is gonna have a lot of fun scooting around on the ground and ducking around falling dirt when he gets to the work. I can't wait for warm weather so I can do the same!

Tom

 

if i had had the money i would have ordered or built two of these as i run 2x6v deep cycle batteries in the right rear of my extended van:

Drop-out Battery Box - Speedway Motors, America's Oldest Speed Shop

one other thing is to make a rock guard/heat deflector to keep the rear tire from throwing stuff at the batteries or even tire pieces if one blows and just keep any unness heat from the batteries.

since i am running a large audio system as well as towing a boat (so i need a charge circuit to the trailer plug), i installed the second battery bank in the rear near the amps and hitch. it was already a given that i would need a second alternator. plus the van is already up off the ground far enough that i can just slide under to do stuff.